Please please please stop calling it the music business. Music/Movies/Games are not all seperate businesses. They all fall into the category of entertainment. They are in the entertainment business and their competitors are more then just pirates, its everything else out there trying to get your time.
There are lots of artists and companies that deal just in music. Sure they have to compete with other forms of entertainment, but "music business" seems like a useful subcategory for discussion. Do you have other reason for disliking the distinction?
Mostly because it allows those who use the term to say they are suffering as a direct result of piracy and not increased competition. The more people who are in this mindset then the greater chance there is for people to question the figures that the record lables spit out.
...which won a Grammy last year for "Best Bluegrass Album", and for which he is actively touring right now.
So, yeah, his point is "here are the royalty riches you can expect when you make an award winning album and drag yourself all over the country promoting it."
Kind of explains the whole "Pink Panther 2" and "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" things.
He might not be making royalties from a 2009 release, yet. At least with books, you don't get royalties until you've "earned out" your advance (ie, they keep your royalties until they've paid back the advance, after which you get them). If the label fronted the recording costs, they'd probably get paid back before he gets royalties.
Those royalty checks might be from old comedy routines being played on radio, if anyone plays comedy on radio anymore.
